This section observes comment on and criticism of monastic life in late medieval and early Tudor England, and includes not only literature, but also the political and financial manifesto of the Lollards, and an unusual but suggestive episode from fourteenth-century Exeter.

that Wala was Lothar’s man, Radbert’s attempt to represent him as an independent agent is interesting, and so is the criticism of Louis’ eldest son that he puts into his master’s mouth. Apart from his wish to put some distance between Wala and Lothar, there are also several instances in which Radbert the author seems to distinguish himself from his master, for example by depicting himself as a mediator between Louis the Pious, who was eager for reconciliation, and an intransigent Arsenius who stuck to his principles, no matter what. 67 This no doubt serves to

, nor fear for the future, nor promises [p. 66] of material rewards, nor unending varieties of torment, nor any authority could recall from the charity of Christ and love for his fatherland and people, from love for the Church and loyalty to the emperor. 42 For these and many other reasons, therefore, he spoke resolutely, like another Jeremiah. He reserved particular criticism for the army of clerics in the palace (whom they popularly call ‘chaplains’), because this is not any order of the Church. For they do not serve for any other reason than for the sake of the

from visitors. William Langland is scathing in his
criticism of ‘ancres there a box hangeth’ – that is,
whose cells feature a prominently displayed collection
box. 15 The household accounts
of nobles and gentry often include small donations made on visits to a
recluse. Anchorites could also be singled out for legacies when people came
to make their wills. We noted in the Introduction the bequests made by Henry

– which is what you criticise in me!
Severus:
I certainly dare to, but one should not speak recklessly about another person.
Pascasius:
Take care, brother, lest you run afoul of the criticism of the comic poets. 214 For as they say, it is impossible for anyone to be free or obedient, or to know how to handle the truth correctly, or to know another or be known by him, in the absence of an honourable life. Perhaps this is the reason that you do not wish to show how much you cared for him, and that he did not dare to trust you as a father should. If this had been

Christ and the commandment of God’. 95 At their head were
‘the monks of Hirsau, from whose school came … that civil
war by which that single order of monks has long been split into very
many sects’. In an extraordinary escalation of Lampert’s
criticisms of the ‘new’ monasticism, the polemic of the
anonymous monk of Hersfeld ascribes to the proponents of monastic reform
responsibility not only for the

identification of the manuscripts of the archbishop’s
‘commonplace book’ (though the term itself has been subject
to criticism). 220
Bethurum’s most influential contribution, however, has been her
edition of Wulfstan’s homilies. 221 Although more limited than
Napier’s edition – she only edits twenty-one homilies, in
contrast to his sixty-two – Bethurum’s was the first to
provide

intention had been to support Charles the Bald, it would be
difficult to explain why he did not shy away in De divortio
from transparent criticism of Charles, notably for his role in
supporting Theutberga’s brother Hubert. 83
More important in motivating
Hincmar’s response was probably his very strong sense of the
duties of bishops towards those committed to their pastoral charge

crucifix during a procession through the city. The second, an
inquisition into the property held by Jews in the city in 1290, was one
of the concluding acts of the tragic process by which the Jews were
expelled from England in that year. They had ceased to be vital to royal
finance, and were increasingly a religious embarrassment in the context
of ecclesiastical criticism. The list reflects a great reduction in the